TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023 - UNDER TWO WEEKS TO CHRISTMAS

 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023 - UNDER TWO WEEKS TO CHRISTMAS

So, what’s on your wish list this year?  “Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men” would be great.  I write “LOVE WINS” - 

So, instead of the hymnal version or the Casting Crowns version, here is Henry Wadsworth Longfellows’ poem.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
    A voice, a chime,
    A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Then, from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair, I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
    "For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men."

****************

There are two stanzas I never saw before:

Then, from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

*****

Google says that Longfellow wrote this in 1863 - at the height of the (un) Civil War.  

“From Each black, accursed mouth.” I don’t think he was referring to the Black Slaves - they were generally called “Negroes” at that time.  My uneducated guess is that he meant the slave owners, treating human beings as property.  BLACK ACCURSED MOUTH is a pretty harsh term.  It also leads to the following line - of cannons shooting their cannon balls - hoping to kill or injure soldiers from the Union.  

HATRED - kill and use the enslaved people to make your land prosperous.  Whip them, treat them like dirt - and on Sunday, go to your (probably) Christian Church and sing of God’s mercy and love.

The other new-to-me stanza is: 

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men

This unCivil War tore this country in two - like a giant earthquake splitting open a fissure into the bowels of the Earth (or to Hell - and letting Satan and demonic forces gorge on the hate.  

I want to think we are better - but not really.  Two countries that speak the same basic language, look similar and have a common heritage are still fighting in Eastern Europe (that is, Russia and Ukraine).  

Farther south - along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, two forces that go back centuries - to when one group of people were enslaved people in Egypt - and believe that God miraculously brought them to a (“the”) promised land - displacing the people who were already there.  (Israel and Palestine).

My favorite philosopher/first-century rabbi said, “Love your neighbor,” both conflicts above are between neighbors.  Turn the other cheek.

Longfellow ends his poem on an optimistic note:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men."

*****

Can we work together on this?

LOVE WINS
LOVE TRANSFORMS
LOVE IS PATIENT AND KIND
KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, DECEMBER 12, 2023